Merge XP SP 1 137 gb disk partition with unallocated 21 gb

[Guest]

I built a new system recently with windows XP Pro, ASUS MB, 160 gb disk1 and
200 gb disk 2. The original installation did not have XP SP1 or SP2. I have
since installed SP2.

Disk1 (160 gb) appears as a 127 gb partition and a 21 gb unallocated
partition, resulted from the initial XP installation limitation of 137 gb.

Disk2 (200 gb) appears as 186 gb, the full disk appears usable.

How do I merge the Disk1 127 gb partition and 21 gb unallocated partition
into a single partition? I'd like to do this in XP or with freeware to avoid
buying additional sw. Another thread recommended "Partition Magic", the
www.soft32.com web page stated there is 80 gb hard drive limit, so the free
demo may not work. Are there any other cost effective methods to merge the
partitions?

thanks.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Partition Magic 8.0 can do this! Partition Magic 6 and 7 may have this
limit.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick response.

I'm looking at the www.soft32.com/download_151.html Partition Magic 8.0
download site. Under features, it states "partition hard drives as large as
80 gb".

Are you sure the Partition Magic 8.0 demo will merge my 127 gb and 21 gb
partitions on a 160 gb disk? The 8.0 demo download is 22 mb, will take many
hours to download over my dial up connection. If you're sure, I'll go ahead
with the download.

thanks.

 

[Guest]

The Partition Magic 8.0 demo I've seen appears to be non-functional.

Any suggestions on other freeware/methods to combine the partitions?

I hate to spend more money on the re-partitioning sw than I did on the disk
drive. If I did not have the OS installed on the disk, I'd reformat and
repartition the disk.

 

[Tom]

The Partition Magic 8.0 demo I've seen appears to be non-functional.

Any suggestions on other freeware/methods to combine the partitions?

I hate to spend more money on the re-partitioning sw than I did on the disk
drive. If I did not have the OS installed on the disk, I'd reformat and
repartition the disk.

Try BootItNG from www.terabyteunlimited.com. It can do what you want, and is a full functional 30 trial, $35 to purchase.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

I was able to use it on my 120GB hard drive. I should have mentioned that
the demo version will not do the change. For more info, look at
www.powerquest.com or www.symantec.com for the details (I would not rely on
the third party web site www.soft32.com, since other web sites had wrong
info that I was looking for.)

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded BootIt with a 30 day free trial and
was able to merge my partitions. Everything appears to be working.

A summary of the steps were:

- Download BootItNG and unzip.
- Look at BootItNG user guide to determine what to do.
- Download free MakeDisk to create a BootItNG boot disk.
- Reboot with BootItNG boot disk.
- Since my system is already up and running, I didn't actually partition
anything.
I received an error msg that backup copies could not be made.
I selected continue and proceeded to the BootIt utility screen.
I then selected partitions and my disk.
I then selected "Resize" and specified the max size available.
The disk partition was extended to include the unused partition.
The resize took a few seconds.
- I tried to uninstall BootItNG, but I don't think it was ever installed.
I was running from the boot disk.

Thanks again.